This invention relates to an energy-conserving device for ridding roofs of snow and ice which requires neither a commercial energy source nor attention after installation, which is simple to install and which has an indefinite effective life.
The ice-dam problem on roofs results from snow which alternatively thaws and freezes forming along the entire length of the eaves a barrier of ice behind which water melting from the upper warmer roof areas accumulates and, seeking its own level, backs up under the roof shingles and runs down through the roof boards into the attic and finally through the ceilings and down into the interior walls, causing immense damage to both the building and its contents and furnishings.
Various expedients have been employed to eliminate this condition, one of which is the electric de-icing cable commonly marketed and installed throughout the northern regions of this country both in 10 foot sections comprising 25 linear feet of cable consuming 125 watts of electrical energy and in 32 foot sections comprising 80 linear feet of cable consuming 560 watts of electricity. An average ranch-style house 50 feet long requires four (4) 32 foot sections consuming 2240 watts of electricity, plus another 100 feet for the two at least gutters and 50 feet for the four at least conductor pipes for a total consumption of about 3000 watts of electricity. Such installations require grounds hammered into the ground, clips and separator links to help minimize short-circuiting and potential house fires all weather connections between all sections and all weather plugs and receptacles installed on the exterior side walls with indoor wiring and lighting switches. Thus, the whole installation is complex, expensive and represents a colossal expenditure of energy from increasingly scarce fuel stocks.
Non-energy causing devices other than de-icing cables have been patented as shown, for example, in Creighton U.S. Pat. No. 189,431, Apr. 10, 1877, which utilizes solar heat within the gutter area, but does not prevent ice build-up on the surface of the roof above the gutter area. Hess U.S. Pat. No. 233,677, Oct. 26, 1880, utilizes a box and cover to prevent the upper open end of the conductor pipe from becoming clogged or frozen or becoming choked up with sticks, gravels or other refuse. The structure is not effective to prevent the problem of ice dam. Farren, U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,298 utilizes hollow tiles designed to produce air passages below the roof surface. None of the foregoing patents disclose means for effectively ridding a roof of ice damming.
The primary purpose of this invention is to eliminate water damage and destruction of buildings caused by leakage due to the formation of ice dams on the eaves of roofs by harnessing directly and effectively various sources of natural energy without contributing to environmental pollution, and thus to effectively conserve commercial forms of energy currently being consumed in enormous quantities. This is achieved herein by means of a device designed to be fastened to the roof without alteration of the latter, which will absorb heat from the direct rays of the sun, capture roof heat loss radiation and side wall heat loss radiation resulting from thermal convection and effectively channel the same along the surface of the roof from the eaves upwardly and, in addition, channel the water resulting from melting of the snow and ice downwardly on the surface of the roof.